Miranda Charlton has stayed up many nights wondering what went wrong at college. Only 53 percent of her class at John Marshall High School managed to graduate in 2011, but she was among them. A three-sport athlete, she enrolled in Cayuga Community College to play basketball and become one of the first among dozens of siblings and cousins to get a degree. The first year went well, but the second year didn't. A combination of stressors forced her out of school and back to her parents' house, where she's now cutting hair and doing makeup, scrounging money together for another attempt at finishing her two-year degree.

She's not sure when that will be, or how to go about it. Is it her fault? If not, what happened?

Charlton's case is not unique. According to newly released data, of all the city students who get their high school diploma and enroll in college, fewer than one out of 10 manages to get a college degree. Factoring in separate data on those who never make it to college, barely one in 40 Rochester ninth-graders ends up with an associate's or bachelor's degree.

Part of the problem is academics. Charlton didn't know which classes to choose, or how many of them, and no one told her.

Part of it is finances. Money was tight at home, so instead of calling to ask for help, she skipped meals and lost a lot of weight.

Part of it is family support. Her parents both worked long hours and neither had been to college, so they didn't understand the pressure she was under, or how helpful a daily phone call would be.

The college success data is included in a recent report by the Rochester Education Foundation, an independent, nonprofit organization that provides programs and resources for Rochester students. It sheds light on the disturbing pattern, all the more troublesome because it affects the already-too-small portion of students who manage to get a high school degree.

Of Rochester students who were high school freshmen in 1999 and enrolled in a two-year college in 2003, just 9 percent had graduated by 2006. The state average was 24 percent. The national average was 32 percent.

At four-year colleges, the six-year graduation rate for those 2003 Rochester alumni was 5 percent in 2009, compared to 64 percent statewide and 57 percent nationally.

When factored in with the number of students who never get to college — the 2013 city high school graduation rate was 43 percent, and only about two-thirds of those graduates enroll in college right away — the new statistics paint a distressing picture for a district striving for college- and career-readiness.

In fact, having the numbers at all is fairly progressive. Representatives from several suburban districts in Monroe County and Syracuse said they do not track how many of their alumni end up graduating from college. A spokeswoman said the Buffalo district does track, but she did not provide statistics when asked for them.

“They're our kids. If they fail, what happens to our area? What happens to our country? Who's going to come to our school? If they can't come to our school or get a job, what are they doing? That impacts us, too.”

Chandra McKenzie, RIT

The Rochester data was obtained by the district from the private National Student Clearinghouse and provided to the Rochester Education Foundation.

Leaving college before graduation doesn't necessarily indicate failure — some students may have gotten a job, or bypassed an associate's degree in favor of pursuing a bachelor's degree. But the discrepancy between the local, state and national figures shows that something is wrong.

The Rochester College Access Network, created in 2013 through the Rochester Education Foundation, is looking at the numbers as a benchmark, however sobering, against which to measure future progress. It also hopes to increase completion rates of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, used to determine a student's eligibility for financial aid, as a precursor to college.

"There's nothing surprising there," said Patricia Braus, Rochester Education Foundation executive director. "We knew there was a problem. Now, we have to do something."

That "something" has been the topic of discussion for the last year among leaders in the school district, local colleges and nonprofit organizations. They've identified the main reasons why city high school graduates struggle in college — financial burdens, lack of academic preparation, inability or unwillingness to seek out help — and are planning ways to rectify them.

The reason for the attention is more than philanthropic. Chandra McKenzie, assistant provost for academic affairs at Rochester Institute of Technology, said the success or failure of today's city teenagers will partly dictate the future of the region as a whole.

"They're our kids," she said. "If they fail, what happens to our area? What happens to our country? Who's going to come to our school? If they can't come to our school or get a job, what are they doing? That impacts us, too."

Planning, support problems

Fewer than half of Rochester students get their high school diplomas in four years. Shavonne Noble got hers in three and went to Alfred State to study business management in the fall of 2012 at age 17.

But even in her precociousness, the seeds for trouble had been planted. She focused so intently on finishing her high school courses at Edison High School that she dedicated little time to planning for the next step.

She hoped to attend fashion school, but by the time she got around to applying, the deadlines had passed. She chose Alfred State because her sisters had gone there.

“There was no one to say, 'You should be taking this and this,' ... I spent all that money, I wish I knew I was doing it the right way.”

Miranda Charlton

"I didn't have time to get my stuff together and make myself look good for colleges," she said. "(A guidance counselor) was on me, telling me to start applying, but I was lollygagging thinking about graduating. Then after that, I was like, 'Oh, shoot, it's June, it's July, I've got to get on something.' "

She did well her first semester at college, but in the spring, several challenges arose. She took too many classes and couldn't manage the workload, including balancing school with her social life; she struggled to pay for tuition, books and food, and didn't have time for a part-time job; her family in Rochester stopped calling to check on her, leading to a sense of isolation.

Noble left school after that semester, returned to Rochester and started working overnight shifts at Walmart for $10 an hour.

"The second semester, I just wasn't myself," she said. "Maybe I stopped working hard because I was stressed out. ... But no one was calling asking if I was stressed, if my financial aid was OK. I thought, 'I need to be home working.' "

The lack of support that Noble and Charlton received is a common denominator among city students, and a major reason they often fail to succeed at college.

It starts in high school, where a recent study found only 6 percent of Rochester students get high-enough marks on standardized tests to indicate college readiness.

Academic standards in city high schools are a large part of that. So is the dearth of college and career counselors; Mary Gilbert, a counselor at East High School, said most counselors have about 300 students on their caseload.

"You can imagine if your family isn't familiar with the whole college process, you almost need someone who can step in and fill the role of the parent: nagging them on completing applications, getting essays done on time, registering for the SATs," Gilbert said.

Parents who didn't attend college are less likely to appreciate the pressures their children are under. Even if they do, they may not have the means to send extra cash for food or books.

"My parents are great parents, but I never had that one person who told me to keep going, that really understood that," Charlton said. "Neither of my parents went to college, so they didn't really understand how it could be."

According to surveys conducted among students leaving Monroe Community College before graduating, 21 percent left for "personal reasons," and 19 percent left for a variety of financial troubles, including needing a job or difficulty finding child care or transportation. Another 9 percent cited home conditions and 7 percent cited academic difficulty.

The lack of support happens on college campuses as well. Most schools are well-equipped with people and services available to struggling students, but those students often don't realize what help exists, or are ashamed to ask for it.

"I was making mistakes and dropping out of classes and trying to figure out my schedule, and there was no one to say, 'You should be taking this and this,' " Charlton said. "I spent all that money, I wish I knew I was doing it the right way."

'High expectations for myself'

Leslie Beard was six months pregnant when she graduated from Wilson High School in 2010. Her daughter, Samyra, was born that September, and it didn't take long for the pressure to overcome Beard, forcing her to drop out of Monroe Community College after a few months.

"I had high expectations for myself," she said. "But it's hard being a full-time student and a full-time parent with a full-time job."

She got certified as a nursing assistant and worked full-time, but never stopped wanting to finish school. For help, she reached out to Hillside Work-Scholarship Connection, through which she'd worked during high school, and got connected with college navigator Ashley Jackson, herself a city schools graduate.

Jackson's job is to work with Rochester students on college campuses, providing the support they otherwise lack. When Beard re-enrolled in MCC last fall, Jackson hooked her up with tutors, signed her up for a note-taking seminar and encouraged her to visit the writing center for draft after draft of her college papers.

This spring, Beard had a 3.6 GPA. She is interning this summer with the Rochester Police Department and hopes to pursue her bachelor's degree and a career in criminal justice.

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Leslie Beard, an MCC student and city grad who dropped out of college then re-enrolled, is currently working at an internship at City Hall.(Photo: ANNETTE LEIN/@bikebizzle/, staff photographer)

"There's a ton of resources students can tap into to be successful," Jackson said. "The biggest problem is getting them there. ... I try to get them to understand the classes are there to help you, not to break you."

Among the 50 MCC students getting help through Hillside, 97 percent stayed enrolled from fall 2013 to spring 2014, and 34 of them kept up part-time jobs on the side, according to data from Hillside.

The Rochester College Access Network includes Hillside, the City School District and every local college among its members. In response to the numbers in its new study, it is pushing a number of initiatives to help students like Beard.

A small sampling of them: The Urban League of Rochester holds college workshops in the spring and fall to help with college selection, admissions tests and applications. The Ibero-American Action League provides scholarships and guidance. Another umbrella group, ROC The Future, supports a variety of initiatives aimed at younger students, with the goal of starting the college and career preparation process earlier.

At Monroe High School, the classes of 1960 and 1963 have funded "Last Dollar Grants," awards of $500 meant to help Monroe graduates cover the small expenses that can be an obstacle for some.

Several local foundations and benefactors, including the Rochester Area Community Foundation, pay for students to attend college. Monroe Community College and some community partners recently unveiled Save For Success, where students can get eight-to-one matching dollars for college savings, for up to $3,000. Participating students also get financial literacy mentoring.

“We need to build on kids who are successful, not just throw up our hands in true Rochester fashion and say, 'We're going to fail again.'”

Patricia Braus, Rochester Education Foundation executive director

RIT has its Rochester City Scholars program, which provides free tuition to city school students.

"The young people who made it (through Rochester City Scholars) look a lot like the kids who didn't even fill out the FAFSA," Braus said. "We need to build on kids who are successful, not just throw up our hands in true Rochester fashion and say, 'We're going to fail again.' "

Rochester's leaders are in fact looking elsewhere for inspiration. For example, a similar coalition in Cleveland got underway in 2011 on the same two goals of college success and FAFSA completion rates.

Maggie McGrath, the director of the Higher Education Compact of Greater Cleveland, mentioned one small step that led to a prominent improvement.

Cuyahoga Community College began mandating that incoming students take a practice test before sitting for the actual placement exams. That change, designed to make the students more comfortable with the test, cut placements in remedial English classes by 50 percent.

The main takeaway in Cleveland, McGrath said, has been getting students on college campuses sooner and making more support services mandatory rather than optional. Some local colleges also agree to pay for a student's last few courses if they can't otherwise afford it, preferring to spend the few hundred dollars rather than seeing another dropout.

Making changes

Shavonne Noble, now 19 years old, never did get hooked up with extra services or funding. But six months of working overnight shifts at Walmart gave her the time to think about her future and the motivation to make a change.

She re-enrolled at Alfred State this spring with enough savings to help her through tight spots. She cut down on partying in favor of more time studying. She got over her fear of looking dumb in class and started asking questions when she got confused.

To her surprise, other students followed up with questions of their own. They didn't get it, either.

"I had the impression that in college, you're on your own. The professors teach the material, you get your work and you go and do it," she said. "But as I've progressed, I've noticed it's not really like that. They don't leave you hanging. ... I just had to let down that guard."

She's now planning to graduate with an associate's degree in business management in the spring of 2015. After that, she'll likely continue for a bachelor's.

"When I was working and not going to school, I felt like, 'This isn't me. This might be someone else, but it's not me,' " she said. "If there's anything in this world I'm good at, I know I'm good at conquering school and chasing my dreams. I know I'm good at that."

JMURPHY7@DemocratandChronicle.com

Twitter.com/CitizenMurphy

About the data

School districts generally do not track how many of their alumni go on to graduate from college. The Rochester School District pays an outside organization, the National Student Clearinghouse, to gather that information. Because of limitations with the clearinghouse data, the Rochester Education Foundation statistics for 2003 college enrollers are based on overall college graduation rates for 2006 and 2009, without regard to year of college entrance.

The college entrance rate among high school graduates of 64 percent is from the 2012 high school graduating class; earlier numbers are not available.

The national and state college completion statistics come from the National Center for Education Statistics and the New York state Education Department, respectively.

The U.S. Department of Education reports how many students from each school complete the Free Application for Federal School Aid (FAFSA). Those raw numbers can be compared with high school graduation rates compiled by NYSED.